Azar Beik, left, whispers through the veil to her daughter Nooshin as she feigns indecision when the officiant asks her if she will marry Dennis George, right, during the Persian half of their dual cultural wedding at at Rancho Las Lomas this past October.

Nooshin Beik, left, and her fiancé, Dennis George, right, are married by Rev. Todd Rodarmel during the traditional Christian ceremony half of their dual-cultural wedding. After the ceremony, they had a second Persian ceremony.

Guests attending the dual ceremony wedding of Nooshin Beik and Dennis George walk past the Persian Sofreh aghad, or wedding spread, which contains items that represent elements in nature: earth, fire, water and air. Some of the items on the table include a mirror to bring light and brightness into the future, two candelabras that symbolize fire and energy, eggs and nuts for fertility, honey symbolizing sweetness and happiness.

Newlyweds Dennis George and Nooshin Beik greet family and friends as they arrive for the Persian half of their dual wedding ceremony. The couple had just been married in a traditional Christian ceremony at Rancho Las Lomas in Silverado.

Nooshin Beik,from left, gets a kiss of congratulations from her father Siavash Beik, as her mother Azar, hugs the groom, Dennis George, at the conclusion of their traditional wedding ceremony at Rancho Las Lomas in Silverado.

The new bride Nooshin Beik, left, gets a hug of congratulations from Leanna George, mother of the groom, as her husband Eugene hugs his son, Dennis George, at the conclusion of their traditional wedding ceremony at Rancho Las Lomas in Silverado.

A guest at the wedding ceremony of Dennis George and Nooshin Beik takes a cell phone photo. The couple had a double ceremony, one traditional and one Persian at Rancho Las Lomas in Silverado.

Siavash Beik, left, escorts his daughter Nooshin down a walkway at Rancho Las Lomas for the start of a dual wedding ceremony which includes a traditional Christian ceremony and a traditional Persian ceremony.

Father of the bride Siavash Beik, left, pretends to shed a tear as the father of the groom, Eugene George, plays along with a comforting touch at the wedding ceremony of their children Dennis George and Nooshin Beik.

Newlyweds Nooshin Beik and Dennis George greet family and friends during the Persian half of their dual wedding ceremony. The couple is sitting in front of the Sofreh aghad or wedding spread which contains items that represent elements in nature: earth, fire, water and air.

While a pastor preaches about Adam and Eve at a wedding in Santiago Canyon, Azar Beik gestures to a bridesmaid to adjust the bride’s train so her daughter won’t trip and take a dive.

After all, a flying bride is a faux pas at any wedding. But at this wedding, keeping the bride intact is especially critical.

The Christian wedding is only the first of two ceremonies. The second is traditional Persian.

You might wonder as I did – and I’m a groomsman – that a Persian ceremony might be a bit of a stretch for the groom’s parents. His mother grew up in Long Beach, and his father is a former Navy man from Iowa.

At the same time, you might wonder whether the Christian ceremony is too much of a stretch for the bride’s parents, who grew up in Iran at a time when simply holding hands required parental approval.

Get real. This is the 21st century. Leanna George, the groom’s mother, tells me that differences in culture and “religion don’t really matter if you’re a good American. We’re going to blend.”

As the bride, 34, and groom, 39, are fond of saying, niiice – right?

But if things had gone differently with certain armed guards during the height of the Iraq-Iran war, none of us would be at this bicultural wedding.

• •

The groom’s parents met during a blind date at a time when the Long Beach Naval Shipyard bristled with three dry docks, five industrial piers and thousands of civilian workers.

Eugene George, a boiler man nicknamed “Oil King” for his speed at pumping fuel, was stationed in Long Beach. Leanna was a young woman with an appreciation for service and duty.

Soon, the couple married and settled in Lakewood. Gene became a machinist and Leanna worked at Farmers & Merchants Bank. Their daughter went on to become a police officer in Garden Grove and married another peace officer. Their eldest son fell in love with a woman who was Jewish, and their wedding was Leanna’s and Gene’s first introduction to a non-Christian wedding.

Leanna laughs recalling the dancing, the breaking of the glass. Yet the way Leanna sees it, the wedding wasn’t her first introduction to another culture.

“My mother-in-law was Irish,” Leanna notes. “She loved Irish poems and read them around the house.”

• • •

The bride’s parents met hiking in northern Tehran. It was the first time a man held Azar’s hand.

It also was love at first sight.

In the mid-1970s Azar and her husband, Siavash (sea-of-ash) moved to Lawrence, Kan., so Siavash could pursue a master’s degree in engineering. But when the young couple returned to Tehran with two babies and Siavash’s master’s from the University of Kansas, the Iranian Revolution was in full swing. Demonstrations and strikes tore the country apart. It took months before Siavash could find a job.

Then the Iran-Iraq war broke out. There were bombing raids, trench warfare. When the war ended eight years later, an estimated 1 million people were dead.

Early on, the Beiks realized their homeland no longer was a place to raise their son and daughter. “They were bombing every night,” Azar says. “We couldn’t go near the windows. We were scared.”

Leaving their extended families tore at the couple’s hearts. Making matters worse, Siavash was one of the few experts left capable of designing large water projects. Telling the regime, “We’re out of here” wasn’t an option.

Under the guise that he was interviewing job candidates, Siavash made his way to the United States and left Azar behind with the children. He obtained a green card, found a job and an apartment in Indianapolis and prayed for his family.

In something similar to the escape scene in the movie “Argo,” Azar made her way to the Tehran airport with her two children. Suspicious, a guard demanded, “Why are you leaving?”

Azar replied she was going on vacation. Guards searched her bags and found family jewelry. She was sent to a room for questioning and forced to leave her children behind.

She told her 8-year-old son, Ali, to hold his sister’s hand and never let go. “I was shaking,” Azar recalls. “You don’t know if someone’s going to take your kids.”

Finally, mother and children were allowed to board a plane. Azar confesses, “I just cried forever.”

Today, Siavash is vice president at an engineering firm in Indianapolis and Azar is a jewelry designer and in sales. Still, when thunderstorms rumble across the Indiana sky, Azar flashes back to bombs dropping.

• • •

After the first ceremony, the wedding party and guests assemble before a 6-by-8-foot low-slung table made by the groom, Aliso Viejo-based wellness instructor Dennis George. Called the sofreh-ye aghd – wedding spread – the table is draped in linen and laden with items that represent earth, fire, water, air and more.

Shidnia kisses the bride and groom on the cheeks, poking the groom and laughing, “You’re married to an Iranian now. You’re going to get kisses all the time – especially from guys.”

Instead of a blushing bride, it’s the groom who turns red.

We walk to dinner, past the tiger cages at Rancho Las Lomas. The bride, Nooshin Beik, a vice president at Burnham Benefits Insurance Services in Irvine, shares that she’s thrilled everyone enjoyed both the American and Persian ceremonies.

For a moment, I’m confused. Weren’t both ceremonies American?

David Whiting’s column appears four days a week; dwhiting@ocregister.com.

David Whiting is the award-winning Metro Columnist at The Orange County Register. He also can be heard on radio, has served as a television news anchor and speaks frequently at organizations and universities. He previously was an assistant managing editor and has received Columbia University’s Race and Ethnicity Award, National Headliner awards and Sigma Delta Chi’s Public Service Award. He recently was invited to participate in an exchange program with Chinese journalists. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and his master’s from Columbia University’s Graduate School for Journalism. He is a two-time Ironman, a two-time Boston marathoner and has climbed the highest mountains in Africa and North and South America.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.